Reacting
to a directive from Congress, the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration said Wednesday that it would propose changes to a federal
vehicle safety standard that would require new child car seats to be
safer in side-impact crashes. The new rule would apply to car seats sold
in the United States that are designed for children weighing up to 40
pounds. The current standard addresses only how well car seats must
protect children in front crashes.

Advertisement

The
announcement was made by David Friedman, acting administrator of the
safety agency, at the SAE International Government/Industry Meeting at
the Washington Auto Show.

"In
the big picture, this is a great thing," said Jennifer Stockburger,
director of operations at the Consumer Reports Auto Test Center, whose
responsibilities include the child-restraints program. As it stands now,
parents have only marketing claims to go by, and a federal standard
would give consumers more assurance that all car seats comply with the
same minimum level of performance, she said.

The
agency estimates that the regulation will save five lives and prevent
64 injuries each year. The proposed rule will be published in The
Federal Register, and members of the public and manufacturers will be
able to submit comments for 90 days. Then, the agency will consider
whether to adopt the rule as-is or with changes.

Under
the proposed rule, car-seat manufacturers would have to show that
child-safety seats can keep a child's head from hitting the door when
the car is struck in the side, and reduce the crash forces transmitted
to the head and chest. The tests would be conducted using a sled test
designed to simulate a T-bone crash in which the front of a vehicle
traveling 30 miles an hour slams into the side of a small passenger
vehicle traveling at 15 m.p.h. The tests would be conducted using an
existing crash-test dummy that represents a 12-month-old child, as well
as a side-impact dummy, still to be developed, that would represent a
3-year-old. (NY Times)